BY Advocate.com Editors

September 30 2009 12:00 AM ET

First, the depressing (literally) news: 42% of adult HIVers suffer from clinical depression, and the condition hampers HIV treatment by making it difficult to properly adhere to medication regimens as well as through an effect unrelated to adherence that is not yet understood, according to a report in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

But there is a bright spot in this study of more than 3,300 HIVers: Treating depression with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors not only helps curb depression but also restores the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy.